Deere dealers could hire crop consultants

DES MOINES, IOWA—MyJohnDeere.com is part of an expansion of the company’s FarmSight precision agriculture developments. “FarmSight is a strategy not a product,” said David Everitt, president, Agriculture and Turf Division of North America and other areas of the world.

The news release announcement issued in conjunction with the media event Thursday noted the importance of MyJohnDeere.com. “To help agricultural producers manage their equipment information, production data and farm operations from a single Web site, John Deere introduces MyJohnDeere.com.”

This FarmSight toolbox “gives customers a centralized online portal to access, view, archive and manage a wide variety of business information.”

There will be new suites of technology in the future while some are already in place to connect with MyJohnDeere.com. It is part of building the “intrastructure side” of the company. It all fits within the FarmSight business, which has three pillars for success—“machine optimization, logistics optimization and ag decision support.”

In simplistic terms, MyJohnDeere.com will have wireless connection between machines and allow storing a wide assortment of data entered through various automatic and manual methods. ”The user can access their MyJohnDeere.com site to view the information that is most important to them, as well as allow access to their (equipment) dealer, farm manager or other third-partly individuals (ag retailer),” as explained by the John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group.

There was discussion during the media event about equipment dealers hiring agronomists to work with producers in utilizing as much of the MyJohnDeere.com capabilities as possible and making recommendations for the grower. These would be very similar to independent crop consultants.

Everitt used a real-life example of a dealer in western Canada who hired agronomists even before the latest technology being developed by the Intelligent Solutions Group. The dealership has much higher market share for combines than an average dealer in the North America market.

He hired an agronomist who likes working with technical equipment and precision tools a few years ago. That one agronomist worked out so well that the dealer now has six agronomists on staff.

“He (the agronomists) is writing prescriptions for customers. He is providing soil sampling for customers. He is providing water management services for customers. And it is not only a significant revenue generator, but profit generator. You think about the profit he makes on the equipment. Plus the cost, price ratio of this (agronomy services) is favorable … And he has become a trusted advisor because the agronomists are not selling seeds. They are not selling chemicals. The equipment becomes a data management process. This is an example of what could happen. Not only do I think it could happen but it is happening; there is a real life example.”

The John Deere event included a large number of business analysts and agricultural media, and we heard presentations by Everitt; Jerry Roel, director, John Deere FarmSight and John Deere WorkSight, John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group; and James Field, senior vice president and chief financial officer, Deere and Company. All three also answered questions for an hour during a meal at the Hotel Savery in Des Moines.